George Onslow (composer): Difference between revisions

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'''André George(s) Louis Onslow''' (27 July 1784 – 3 October 1853) was a French composer of English descent. His wealth, position and personal tastes allowed him to pursue a path unfamiliar to most of his French contemporaries, more similar to that of his contemporary German [[Romanticism|romantic]] composers; his music also had a strong following in Germany and in England. His principal output was chamber music, but he also wrote four [[symphony|symphonies]] and four [[opera]]s. EsteemedOnslow bywas manyesteemed of theby critics of his time, but his reputation declined swiftly after his death. andIt has only been revived in recent years.

George Onslow was born in [[Clermont-Ferrand]], the son ofto an English father, [[Edward Onslow]], and a French mother, Marie Rosalie de Bourdeilles de Brantôme; his paternal grandfather was [[George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow]].<ref name="bickley">Bickley (n.d.)</ref> In Onslow's own brief autobiography (written in the third person) he comments that in his childhood, "music studies formed but a secondary part of his education" but names [[Jan Ladislav Dussek]] and [[Johann Baptist Cramer]] amongst his piano teachers.<ref name="niaux2004">Niaux (2004).</ref> It has been suggested that he received this tuition in London under the aegis of his grandfather the Earl.<ref name="bickley"/> However, other research indicates he may not have studied with Dussek until 1797–1798 in [[Hamburg]], where his family was living in exile after his father had become involved in counter-[[French Revolution|revolutionary]] activities in France. This research also indicates that there is no evidence to support the suggestions sometimes made that Onslow at any time visited [[Vienna]], or that he met, or studied, there with [[Ludwig van Beethoven]].<ref name="niaux2004"/>

Onslow states in his autobiography that his attitude to music was transformed by his experience of hearing the overture to [[Étienne Méhul]]'s opera ''[[Stratonice (opera)|Stratonice]]'' in Paris in 1801. In Onslow's own later words: "On hearing this piece, I experienced so lively an emotion in the depths of my soul that I sensed myself at once penetrated by feelings previously unknown to me; even today this moment is present in my thought. After this, I saw music with other eyes; the veil which had hidden its beauties from me was rent; it became the source of my most intimate joy, and the faithful companion of my life."<ref name="fetis90">Fétis (1841), p. 90.</ref> This led him to compose his first [[string quintet]]s (Op. 1 nos. 1–3) and [[string quartet]]s (Op. 4 nos. 1–3), although he had not at this stage received any composition tuition. These were published at his own expense; Onslow was always wealthy and did not need critical or financial support. The critic [[François-Joseph Fétis]] noted that, despite his absence of training, Onslow "had all the leisure necessary to overcome these obstacles".<ref name="bickley"/> Onslow learnt to play the [[violoncello|cello]], and towould play the [[chamber music]] of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Franz Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] and Beethoven with other local amateurs.<ref name="fetis90"/> However, aware of the need to develop his technical musical skills, in 1808 he began to study composition with [[Anton Reicha]] in Paris. At this time he also married a French heiress, Charlotte Françoise Delphine de Fontanges, by whom he was to have three children.<ref name="bickley"/>

Onslow based himself near Clermont-Ferrand, initially at his father's Château de Chalendrat at [[Mirefleurs]] (where at the age of six he had planted many of the trees),<ref>d'Ortigue (1833), p. 151.</ref> later at Château de Bellerives at Perignat, [[La Roche-Noire]]. He typically visited Paris during the winter (concert) season, when his works were often performed by musicians including the violinists [[Pierre Baillot]] and [[Théophile Tilmant]], and the brothers [[Charles Dancla|Dancla]], who gave quartet concerts.<ref name="niaux2013">Niaux (2013).</ref> In 1824 and 1827 his first two operas, ''L'Alcalde de la vega'' and ''Le colporteur'', were premiered at the [[Théâtre Feydeau]] in Paris under the auspices of the [[Opéra-Comique]]. ''Le colporteur'' was also produced in Germany, and even (in a very mangled version, in 1831), in London.<ref name="bickley"/> In 1825 in Paris he met the 16-year-old [[Felix Mendelssohn]], who enjoyed a performance of one of Onslow's quartets but was surprised that he was not aware of Beethoven's opera ''[[Fidelio]]''.<ref>Todd (2003), pp. 142–143.</ref> Onslow was an early enthusiast of the music of [[Hector Berlioz]], whose ''Eight scenes from Faust'' (1829) and overture ''[[Les francs-juges]]'' (1830) he praised.<ref>Cairns (1999), p. 324, 427.</ref> In 1829, after Onslow had commenced his quintet op. 38 (his fifteenth), he was very seriously wounded in a hunting accident, which left him partially deaf in one ear; completing the quintet in the aftermath, he named the final movements "Fever", "Convalescence" and "Recovery". The work was subtitled "De la Balle" ("The Bullet").<ref name="bickley"/><ref name="niaux2013"/><ref>Onslow (1835).</ref>

Throughout the 1820s, Onslow's reputation continued to grow both in France and abroad as a series of trios, quartets and quintets were published. Onslow's publishers in Paris were [[Ignaz Pleyel|Ignaz]] and [[Camille Pleyel]]. In 1818 his works began to be published in Germany by [[Breitkopf und Härtel]] and in Austria by [[Edition Peters|C. F. Peters]]; the same year saw the first writings about his works by German music critics.<ref>Hagels (2009), pp. 3–5.</ref> Other German publishers, including Hoffmeister, Steiner and [[N. Simrock|Simrock]], followed in later years.<ref>Hagels (2009), pp. 7–9.</ref> In the 1830s, Onslow's quartets were in the repertoire of the [[Müller Brothers|Müller Quartet]], which played them at the [[Meiningen]] court of Duke [[Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen|Bernhard II]], and of the [[Prague]]-based quartet of Friedrich Pixis the younger.<ref>Stowell (2003), p. 45, 55.</ref>

Onslow was made a ChevalierKnight deof lathe [[Legion d'honneurof Honour]] in 1837.

[[File:Galerie des compositeurs dramatiques modernes - Nicolas-Eustache Maurin (d. 1850).jpg|thumb|left|"Galerie des compositeurs dramatiques modernes" (1844) by Nicolas-Eustache Maurin (d. 1850). The engraving shows (back row left to right): [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Gaetano Donizetti]], Onslow, [[Daniel Auber]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]], [[Henri-Montan Berton]]; (front row left to right): [[Fromental Halévy]], [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], [[Gaspare Spontini]], [[Gioacchino Rossini]]]]

In the years after his death, Onslow's reputation progressively declined;.<ref name="niaux2013"/> When [[Richard Wagner]] was conducting the overture to the opera ''L'Alcalde de la Vega'' in London for the Philharmonic Society in 1855, [[Richard Wagner]]he found it "trivial" and threatened to quit his contract for the rest of the Society's concert series.<ref>Davison (1912), p. 170.</ref> However, from the late twentieth century onwards, commercial recordings of his music began to appear.<ref>[http://george.onslow.free.fr/discoUK.html "Discography"] on the George Onslow website, accessed 18 September 2014.</ref>

{{reflist|3}}

*Bickley, Diana (n.d.). [http://0-www.oxforddnb.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/view/article/20791 "Onslow, (André) George Louis"], ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' online, accessed 9 September 2014.{{Subscription required}}

* Fétis, François-Joseph (1841). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bs09AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA90 "Onslow, (George)"], in ''Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique'', vol. 7, pp.&nbsp;88–91. Brussels: Melines, Cans et compagmie. Accessed via [[Google Books]] 15 September 2014.{{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Hagels, Bert (2009). [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxvbnNsb3dhc3NvY2lhdGlvbnxneDo2MTIxOTZkYTQwYTQxMjJk "Zur Rezeption Onslows in Deutschland bis 1830"], ''Association George Onslow'' , Accessed 11 September 2014. {{in lang|de icon}}

*Jam, Baudime (2003). ''George Onslow'', Clermont-Ferrand: Les Éditions du Mélophile, {{ISBN|9782952007603}} {{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Jam, Baudime (2005). [http://george.onslow.free.fr/Pologne.pdf "George Onslow et les musiciens polonais à Clermont-Ferrand au 19e siècle."], accessed 11 September 2014. {{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Jam, Baudime (2011). ''George Onslow & l'Auvergne'', Nimes: Les Éditions du Mélophile, {{ISBN|9782952007627}} {{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Niaux, Viviane (2003). ''George Onslow: gentleman compositeur,'' Clermont-Ferrand: Presses Universitaire Blaise Pascal, {{ISBN|9782845162334}} {{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Niaux, Viviane (2004). [https://sites.google.com/site/onslowassociation/bibliographie/bibliographie-complete/l-apprentissage-musical-de-george-onslow " L’apprentissage musical de George Onslow et les voyages de 1784 à 1807 à travers les sources et documents du XIXe siècle"], ''Bulletin de l’Association George Onslow'', n°4, ppp.&nbsp;5-115–11. Accessed 9 September 2014. {{frin iconlang|fr}}

* Niaux, Viviane (2009). [http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/51/07/33/PDF/Niaux_George_Onslow_le_Beethoven_francais.pdf "George Onslow : le Beethoven français ?"]. Paper given at the colloquium ''Les Sources du romantisme français : à la croisée des influences italiennes et germaniques (1780–1830)'', Palazzetto Bru-Zane, Venice. Accessed 11 September 2014. {{frin iconlang|fr}}

*Niaux, Viviane (2013). [http://0-www.oxfordmusiconline.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/subscriber/article/grove/music/20353 "Onslow, George"], ''[[Grove Music Online]]'', accessed 9 September 2014. {{Subscription required}}

*d'Ortigue, Joseph (1833). [https://books.google.com/books?id=iowNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA148 "George Onslow"] in ''Révue de Paris'', 1ère série, LVI, Novembre 1833, pp.&nbsp;148–163. Accessed 11 September 2014. {{frin iconlang|fr}}

{{Commons category|George Onslow}}
* [https://sites.google.com/site/onslowassociation/ Association George Onslow website] {{frin iconlang|fr}} Site edited by Viviane Niaux

{{AuthorityRomantic controlmusic}}

[[Category:19th-century French classical composers]]

[[Category:19th-century French composersmale musicians]]

[[Category:19th-centuryKnights maleof musiciansthe Legion of Honour]]

[[Category:Honorary Membersmembers of the Royal Philharmonic Society]]

[[Category:PeopleFrench frommale Clermont-Ferrandopera composers]]

[[Category:StringPupils quartetof composersAnton Reicha]]